


A Dying Garden.

by nanasssig



Category: The Society (TV 2019)
Genre: Angst, BAMF Grizz, F/F, F/M, Fluff, Grizz centered, M/M, Maybe smut? probably just mentioned, The Society, what are tags
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-31
Updated: 2019-06-15
Packaged: 2020-04-05 18:21:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 20,134
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19045858
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nanasssig/pseuds/nanasssig
Summary: Grizz and his fellow adventurers come back to the town in ruins. Allie has been overthrown, and Campbell seems to be the mastermind behind everything. Grizz steps up to the plate to correct their mistakes.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is repeated in the story, but sorry if the characters are ooc! I just wanted to write about what I hoped would happen

Hey guys!! This is my first fic ever so I’m sorry if its bad or if there's spelling mistakes. Also, the characters might be a bit ooc cus it’s hard to write them exactly in character, I’m just kinda writing about what I hope would happen haha. Anyways, enjoy !  
\- -  
“Why is she bleeding?” Grizz asks. Currently, a large mob was surrounding Allie and Will. Allie has a small cut around her eye, and Will just looked angry. They were being held by Jason and Clarke, with Lexi and Harry standing there. Both of them looked distressed, as if they were slightly uncomfortable with the situation at hand. “Stay quiet, Grizz,” Luke says. Grizz looks around, horrified by the situation. Roughly half of the kids in the town were surrounding them, all with angry faces on. Some actually had disgust or betrayal. “What happened when i was gone?” Grizz thought. “Did you find land, Grizz?” Allie yelled. When Grizz looked at her, he saw a mix of despair and confusion, but also sense of urgency, as if her life depended on his answer.  
“Yea, flat land that’s good to farm, and a river with some fish in it.” Grizz answered. Allie seemed to melt into Clarke’s arms, as if her very goal in life had just been fulfilled. It really had, honestly. They could survive here. They had a chance to live. 

The first thing Grizz did when he got home was get into the shower. He turned on the faucet and got undressed, and started to wash himself. Grizz the water run down his face, letting the soothing, yet dull feeling of the repeated drops lull him into deep thought.  
After Allie and Will had been brought inside, Luke brought Grizz to a small room with all of the guard, Lexi, and Harry. Campbell was there, too, which confused him. But everything confused him right now. He knew that the guard was unsatisfied with how Allie was currently running things, but arresting her? None of them had the brains to do that, except for maybe Luke, but he seemed content. Lexi and Harry both seemed to out of it to contribute to the conversation. Thinking about it now, Grizz knew that they couldn’t do it either. Harry was deep in depression, and Lexi was, well, Lexi. She has the anger to do this, but would she actually go through with it? No, she was always about doing things the right away. A forced election is not that way.  
And then there was Campbell. Campbell could think of this, but he liked taking credit for doing these kinds of things. In fact, Grizz was sure that attention is what gets him off. Or, it could be power in general. When Luke has told him about what Campbell did to Elle, it seemed like he was doing it for the power. He ripped the arms off of that bird so he could control the bird. He pointed that gun at Cassandra to scare her into falling in line. He threatened Sam so that he had that power over him.  
Sam. Grizz had completely forgotten about him. His eyes shot open and he stood out of the showers range. Sam. Sam was a father. A father for god's sake. Jesus Christ, Sam fucking Elliot, the boy he’s had a crush on since the beginning of senior year, was a fucking father. Anger courses through him and all he wanted to do was scream or cry. So much shit was going on he didn’t know anything anymore.  
Grizz took a deep breath through his nose, then out of his mouth. The water was starting to get cold, so he reached down and turned off the water. 

Grizz walked out of his bathroom to hear voices coming from his kitchen. They were hushed so no one could hear them, but Grizz did. The first thing that came to mind was that Campbell was head to put him in line. He must’ve realized that Grizz wasn’t fully convinced that Allie tried to swing the election. He would be here to kill him or threaten to kill him. Grizz quietly but quickly ran to his room and pulled out the pocket knife he had in his backpack, then slowly started to creep to the kitchen and listen to their conversation. “.. Are we going to do? We can’t just sit here and do nothing.” It was a girls voice. Why would Campbell send a girl? “Can you just like, shut the fuck up a single second? We’ll wait until Grizz gets here before we start doing anything.” It was another girls voice. Then it clicked in his mind.  
Grizz pocketed the knife, and walked out. Sitting in his kitchen was everyone from the expedition. “Uhh.. hey everybody,” Grizz said. All eyes turn to him, and suddenly he feels as though someone is pressing on his chest. “Woah, Grizz, shirt please.” Gwen says, while mockingly covering her eyes. Grizz cracks a smile and rolls his eyes “Yea, yea, one second. ” He says before going to his room to grab a shirt. “I wasn’t exactly expecting company,” Grizz says when he gets back. “I take it that you guys have heard what’s going on?” He asked. Bean lets out a long sigh as everyone else nods their heads solemnly. “So… What do you guys think of it?” Grizz asks. He wanted to see if everyone was on his side or not. “Are you fucking kidding me? Of course we don’t believe it. Allie isn’t that fucking stupid.” Mickey says. Everyone nods their head in agreement. “That’s good, at least we’re all on the same page. How about I make everyone some tea and we get to talking, yes?” Grizz says. Everyone agrees and looks at him thankingly. 

The last cup gets out of the microwave, and Grizz puts a tea bag in it and sits on the couch. Grizz dips the bag in and out of the cup, staring at it as his thoughts wheeled around his brain. He realized that no one was talking, so he looked up. Everyone was looking at him expectantly, and the pressure on his chest came back. Grizz sucked in a deep breath, but couldn’t get any words out. “So, um, Grizz? What are we going to do?” Gwen asked. Grizz quickly turned to look at her, and opened his mouth to speak, but then closed it. He sat there for a bit, the seconds of silence feeling like a rope being tightening around his neck. “Uhh.. well. I don’t really know yet,” Everyone lets out a sigh of disappointment, and Grizz feels the rope tightening, but clears his throat. “But, I do have an idea, and I’m going to need everyone to agree on it. Not majority or anything, it needs to be one hundred percent agreed upon, okay?” Grizz says. Everyone nods their heads, and he feels his confidence growing. “So, we may be in this for the long run, but it’s the only thing I could think of that wouldn’t immediately kill us. Basically…” Grizz clears his throat, and looks around the room quickly. He hadn’t realized how much they leaned on him. Yes, a Grizz was their leader for this expedition, but that was a one time thing. He wasn’t expecting a full government overthrow when he got back. “Well, have you guys ever heard of the dust bowl thing?” Everyone shrugs but Bean perks her head up. “Yea, it was this valley in some place where all the farmers and people there pulled up all of the plants, then there was a drought so the winds there made it super dusty, and basically no one could live there.” Bean said, everyone looked at her weird. “What? We talked about it in history for like, two seconds, that’s all I remember.” She said. “That’s.. not what we-“ Gwen started, but Grizz quickly interrupted her. “Anyways, we gotta do that.” Everyone’s weird looks switched from Bean to Grizz, and he continued. “We got to start pulling up Lexi and Harry's base up little by little, until the grounds uneven. Until there’s practically no one that’s thinks they’re fit to lead. Then, once they don’t have any support, we prove to everyone that Allie didn’t cheat the election.” Grizz said. He sat silent for a bit, letting the idea sink into everyone’s heads. Once he felt like it had been long enough, he continued, “Also, I think we have another problem, a bigger one. I think we all know how, well, stupid the guard is. They couldn’t have planned this. Harry is depressed, and Lexi is too caught up in trying to do the right thing to plan this, so who did?” Grizz said. He waited another second or two, but the silence seemed to stretch for forever.  
“Campbell. Campbell did.” Mickey said. Grizz nodded solemnly. “Yes, exactly.” Grizz said. “Campbell is the only one who could’ve thought of this and forced everyone else to do it. It’s the only logical reason.” Grizz said. “Yea, Yea, it’s obvious. I’m more worried about how we disrupt Harry and Lexi’s fan base. How would we start?” Gwen asks. Grizz realizes again, that he is their leader now. At least temporarily. They look up to him, whatever he does good, they do to, whatever mistakes he makes, they make them, too. The stakes were high in the forest, but now the the fate of the town rests on their shoulders. Grizz thinks he’s way in over his head. “Start talking to your close friends, first. And not too soon first. I mean the last time we were here, we were all major Allie supporters. Now we’re back and talking trash about Harry and Lexi to all of our fiends? No, we need to settle in first. Then just little things like ‘But do they really care?’ Or things like that, just to get them thinking. Then, once we are sure that they aren’t fully satisfied, we’ll move to kind of friends. Then, they start talking to their friends… it’s like chain mail, I guess. Or a pyramid scheme.” Grizz says. He lets out a long sigh. Once again, silence settles into the room. It’s a regular thing these days, though. No cars driving around, no loud yelling in the street. Not like how it was in the beginning. Not like before. “I don’t think tea is the right drink for today,” Gwen says. “Absolutely not,” Grizz agrees, before grabbing himself a beer.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A lighter chapter, in which Sam comes to talk to Grizz.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys!!! I wanted to write some grizzam stuff. I realize now that the characters are sooo ooc it’s BAD. but,,, idc. It’s fun for me to write and I hope you enjoy !

No one had left yet, and they were getting pretty drunk. Grizz sat on the couch, the same position he was before, and was currently laughing very hard. “Mickey, you are the biggest dumbass I know,” Grizz said in between laughs. “Hey! You can’t judge me, you’re friends with the dude who tried to smoke on the back of the bus without even opening any windows!” Bean said laughing. “I cannot account for anything my friends have done, I’m sorry, i just can’t!” Grizz said, giggling. His face was tinted pink and his eyes were sparkling. Suddenly, a loud knock jarred him back to reality, quickly looked at his phone for the time. It was 12:42. “Shit! Do we still when a midnight curfew?” Grizz asked. “Shit! Fuck! Everyone hide!” Gwen said, and everyone scrambled to hide someplace. They mostly went to the room next to the living room, which was hidden from the front door. Once Grizz was sure that everyone was silent, he reached for the door handle.   
Instead of 3 burly, tough football guys, Grizz looked down to see a short boy, who’s nervous mood made him seem even more mousie. When he looked up, Grizz made direct eye contact with bright blue eyes, and he quickly froze. “Um.. hey, I heard you’re back.” Sam signed, signing it too. Grizz gulped, and didn’t say anything back. It was kind of funny, actually. Grizz had just planned how to overthrow their current government, yet couldn’t say anything to the boy he liked. They stood there in silence, until a creaking behind them made Grizz turn around. Standing there in the doorway was Gwen, with Bean and Mickey peeking out from behind her. “Oh! Hey Sam, want to come in?” Gwen said, shifting a bit to make sure Sam could read her lips. “Yes, thank you,” Sam croaked.   
Sam awkwardly squeezed past Grizz, who still hasn’t moved or said anything. But, once Sam was inside, Grizz closed the door and locked it.   
Everyone from the expedition settled down on the couch, but Sam and Grizz stood awkwardly. It was silent for a bit, until eventually Gwen and Mickey started their own conversation. Sam turned to Grizz and said quietly, “Can I talk to you, in private?” Grizz took a shallow breath and nodded. Grizz started walking towards his room, and turned around for a second, and made eye constant with Gwen. She raised her eyebrows at him, before glancing and Sam. She mouthed “Good luck,” before turning back to Mickey.   
Grizz walked to his room and let Sam in. Grizz took another breath, remembering the last time they were in this room. Grizz was arguing with Sam about Becca. As soon as the door closed, Sam started talking. “I’m really, really sorry, Grizz. You don’t deserve this-“ Sam said. “Yea, i don’t. By the way, how are you and Becca? Still fucking married, yea?” Grizz said. His anger and been slowly building over the past minutes, and combing with his drunkenness, his true emotions came out. “I’ve got to make sure Sam understand what I’m saying” Grizz thought, so he made sure to slow down his talking. When Sam didn’t say anything, Grizz scoffed. “I don’t have fucking time for this. I’ve got fucking town to save, apparently. Hm? Did you just sit by and watch as your fucking brother accused Allie of cheating the election? Huh?” Grizz said. A small voice in the back of his mind new that Sam couldn’t have done anything, but Grizz really didn’t care. It was now or never, let it out or let it be. When Sam didn’t respond, Grizz kept going. “Well? Did you or did you not? Oh, I know you did. You were too busy caring for Becca even when you can’t fucking do anything! She has two very capable people caring for her! You couldn’t have talked to Campbell even a little bit?” Again, the voice in his head knew that Sam couldn’t, that Campbell would lash out and possibly attack him if he did. A tear rolled down Grizz cheek, almost perfectly in time with Sam’s, it was almost beautiful. They were both hurting from this. Grizz let out a long sigh before sitting down on his bed, while Sam continued to stare. They were silent for a bit, before Grizz spoke up again. “Well? What did you want to say to me? What was so urgent you had to come at one in the morning?” Grizz said. “Becca had her baby.” Sam croaked out. This made Grizz let out a short and angry laugh. “Wow! You come to tell me that the girl who’s coming in between us gave birth? Why would I want to know that, hm?” Grizz said. Now, tears were streaming down Grizz’s cheeks, and He quickly wiped them away. Sams nose flared and Grizz could tell that he was getting angry, too. “I promised her. I did, but if i have to break that to keep you, then I will.” Sam croaked out. “Now what the hell does that mean, huh?” Grizz asked. “I’m not going to tell you when we’re both this upset. It can wait till tomorrow.” Sam said. Grizz threw his hands up in the air “Like fucking hell it can wait till tomorrow! You can’t just bring something up when I’m this fucking mad at you and then drop it like it’s nothing. But, hey, if i can last two weeks without any news from you, then it’s fine. Whatever.” Grizz said. Sam sat in silence, before sitting down next to Grizz. Sam grabbed Grizz’s face and forced Grizz to look at him. “Hey,” Sam whispered, and a tear fell from Grizz’s eyes. Sam leaned forward and kissed it off of his cheek, and Grizz leaned his face into him. Once Sam’s lips met his cheek, Grizz felt as though the weight of the world was taken off of his shoulders, and started sobbing. He bent forward into Sam’s shoulder and cried his eyes out. Sam combed his hand through Grizz’s hair and just let him cry. “I’m sorry,” Sam whispered into his ear. Grizz sat up to make sure Sam could read his lips. “I just.. I just want to be with you. But you have a family, and I’m not going to break up a family.” Grizz said. Sam looked at him apologetically, “Then I better tell you this now, because that’s all I want, too,” Sam said. 

Grizz woke up to sunlight coming into his window, and he felt the most calm he has in a long time. Him and Sam had talked for hours. Kissed for a while, did.. other things as well. Sam has told Grizz that.. Jesus, it didn’t feel real in Grizz’s mind. Sam told him that he’s not the father. One of his many problems was solved. He looked down to see red hair glinting in the sun, as Sam was sleeping on his chest. Grizz let all of his troubles escape him. He had once said that all he needed was a library and a garden, and he would have everything he wanted. But that was a lie, he needed Sam, too.   
Grizz realized everything that he had to do today, and wiggled out from underneath Sam. Once he was out, he made sure that Sam was sound asleep, and kissed him on the forehead. Grizz got dressed and went downstairs, expecting everyone to be gone. They were, for the most part, but Gwen sat on the kitchen table, a mug of coffee in her hands. Once Grizz set foot in the kitchen and made eye contact with her, Gwen’s face lit up. “Um, hi,” Grizz said. “Hey, okay so, I don’t really have a place to stay. My house was out of town and I usually stayed with the girls or Clarke, but.. I can’t really anymore.” Gwen said. Grizz nodded, and realized everything that Gwen has given up. Lexie was part of her friend group, and couldn’t exactly talk bad to them, and her and Clarke had broken up. “Coffee?” She asked, and handed Grizz a cup she had made. “Thanks,” he said.   
They sat in silence for a couple of minutes, enjoying a rare, quiet morning, before Gwen made a strange grunting noise. “So… you and Sam?” She said. Grizz almost choked on his coffee. “Uhh, good. Why.. why do you ask?” Grizz said, trying to play it natural. They had agreed to keep their relationship on the low, as Campbell might retaliate, and Grizz didn’t want Sam to have a well known connection between him and the rebellion. Gwen just rolled her eyes. “Oh yea, you play it cool. Whatever. I know somethings up between you to… and that the something that’s up is your di-“ Gwen said “Oookay.. Lets, not, do this.” Grizz interrupted. Gwen just smirked, “You can’t stop me from annoying you, it’s just my true nature.” She said in a high voice. Grizz groaned, and Gwen poked him, “Come in, just a quick yes or no, that’s all I need,” She said. “I’m not answering anything,” Grizz said, starting to smile. “Just a simple-“ Gwen started, but then suddenly Sam was standing in the doorway with just his underwear one, rubbing his eyes. “Hello,” He started to sign, and then opened his eyes to see an embarrassed Grizz and a shocked Gwen. Sam started blushing and quickly ran back to Grizz’s room. It was silent for a few seconds, then Gwen started giggling, then it turned into a full out, cackle. “That’s my simple yes, I guess,” Gwen said.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A little more serious, and some Becca Kelly material. The gang goes to talk to Becca.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel like grizz is so ooc but ehhh I’ve said it too much. I don’t know how to write Kelly and Becca so I tried my best. Enjoy! :)

When Sam came back, he was fully dressed, but not saying a word, and wouldn’t look up at Gwen, every once in a while, Sam would shake his head, as if he was remembering what just happened. Grizz cleared his throat. “Okay, so I think we should have a little talk with everyone on team Allie.. Just to make sure everyone’s on the same page.” Grizz said. Gwen, suddenly serious, nodded her head. “Hey so.. I was thinking. What do we do after we disrupt all of their trust? I mean, if they find all of the guns, then they could just shoot us and we’d be dead, and their problems would be solved.” Gwen said. The weight lifted off of Grizz’s shoulders was suddenly pressed back on, as he remembered the duties he had to fulfill. “Well, we can just barge in there and threaten them, you know, get a couple guns ourselves..” Gwen started, but Grizz shook his head, “No, we can’t start it off like them. Then we’d be equal. We need to start it fair, and with justice.” Grizz said. “I mean, not everyone will be happy with that, especially not Becca,” Gwen said. Grizz had partially forgotten that Becca was fully supportive of Allie, and would probably be a valid member. “Yea, I know.. I need to think of how we propose it to everyone.” Grizz said. He turned to Sam, who had been reading both of their lips the whole time, “What do you think?” Grizz asked. Sam thought for a second before answering, “I think we need to stop by Becca and talk to her.” He whispered and signed. Grizz turned to Gwen, who nodded in agreement. “Alright, then, it’s settled.” Grizz said, and stood up from his chair. 

(Switched to Becca for a bit.) 

Becca sat in her hospital bed, feeling absolutely useless. Having learned about everything that’s going on from Sam, she was furious. “Ugh!” She yelled out, wanting to release her anger. All she got though was a loud cry from the basket, and a worried Kelly rounding the corner. “Are you okay?” Kelly asked. Becca sighed and nodded. “Yea, i just feel so fucking useless. All I do is sit here, heal, and feed Eden. God!” Becca said. Kelly looked at her sympathetically. “I mean, even if you were fully ready to be up and about, there’s nothing you can do without being arrested and shown off like Allie and Will,” Kelly said. This made Becca even more depressed. “What makes Harry think he has the right to do that? God, I hate him!” Becca said again. This time, Eden started crying and Kelly immediately shot up and started to bounce her around. Becca stretched her arms and Kelly carefully placed the baby into her arms. “Hmmm, hi cutie pie. Who’s the cutest baby ever?” Becca asked before tickling her nose. Eden giggled, and slowly started to calm down. Becca looked up to see Kelly looking at the floor. “I’m sorry, I know that you guys used to date and all.. but god damn…” Becca said. Kelly laughed, “it’s fine really, it’s just strange. The last time I saw him he couldn’t even get out of bed, let alone plan to overthrow Allie. Something doesn’t seem right, you know?” Kelly said. Once Eden was asleep, Becca handed her over to Kelly to put back in her crib.   
They sat in silence for a bit, until Becca reached over to touch Kelly’s hand. “Thank you, for everything.” Becca said. Kelly blushed but quickly tried to cover it by smiling. “You’re welcome. It’s really nothing-“ Kelly said, and Becca gripped onto her hand, “But it really is! You fucking- sorry, Eden, you literally did something that doctors take years to study and did it from a book! That’s amazing!” Becca said, flashing the brightest smile at Kelly. “You’re amazing,” Becca said. This made Kelly blush again and she quickly stood up, “Uhh.. i should be, um, getting some supplies for the baby. I’ll see you in a bit,” Becca waved goodbye, but was slightly confused, oblivious to what she does to Kelly. But, just as Kelly was about to leave, Grizz walked inside. 

(Back to grizz baby)

Grizz opened the clinic doors slowly, not wanting to disturb Becca, “Umm, where is she?” Grizz asked Sam. “She’s on the far side,” Sam whispered. Grizz nodded and stepped forward. As he was walking, he heard people talking. The voices got louder and louder before he rounded the corner, almost running into Kelly. “Oh, hey Kelly, uh, we need to talk to you.” Grizz said. Kelly looked shocked, and Grizz noticed the slight redness in her cheeks, but didn’t question anything. Behind Kelly was Becca, peering from behind her curtain, “Hey Grizz! Long time no see!” Becca said, and waved them over. Kelly turned around and guided them over to Becca’s bed. “Hey, hows Eden?” Grizz asked. He was kind of uncomfortable. He and Becca has never really been good friends, and now he was dating her.. daughters dad? Grizz knew he wasn’t the biological father, but that didn’t matter. Sam was truly Edens dad. Becca smiled up at him. “Good, she’s just a little angel. Just got her to bed so please, no raised voices.” She said. “So, what did you guys want to talk about?” Kelly said, pulling up a chair.   
Gwen stepped forward, finally speaking after being silent the whole time. “It’s kind of serious.. so prepare yourself,” She said, then took a deep breath, “We are planning to overthrow Campbell.” Gwen said. Kelly raises her eyebrows, “What?” She said. But Becca just punched the air, the biggest smile on her face. “Fu- I mean, frick yeah! God, I’ve been waiting for somebody to actually do something. So, what’s the plan?” Becca said, turning her eyes to Gwen. But Gwen turned to Grizz, so everyone’s eye followed expectantly. “It’s kind of simple, really. Basically, we just start talking to people, little things at first, uprooting all of their trust. Then, once everything is off balance, we somehow prove that Allie didn’t do anything and that they’ve been lied to. Then, we hold a fair trial. Because if we do this their way, just storming in, someone else will do what we’re doing right now. Fight back,” Grizz said. He let out a long breath after, and let the idea sink into everyone’s mind.   
Grizz looked at Becca, who just seemed happy to do something, and then turned to Kelly, who seemed a bit skeptical. “I like the idea, but the trial is getting me caught up. I mean, how do we chose a jury who will be 100% on no side, that’s the only way it’s truly fair. And also, all of them might somehow be on their side. How’s that’s going to work?” Kelly asked. It was a smart question, the same ones that Grizz had been thinking. “There isn’t a way to know or do that. We just have to put our trust into the people. We’re also going to have to think of a fit punishment. We can’t exactly keep them locked up, nor can we kill them. So what do we do? Either way, we have time to figure it out,” Grizz said. But in his mind, he knew they didn’t. Eventually, that time would be up and he was the one that had to come up with the answers. Grizz slowly started to dig deeper and deeper into his mind, until he felt a hand against his arm. Grizz turned and looked to see Sam looking up at him. “It’s okay,” Sam whispered, and Grizz sighed, using his own hand to cover Sams. He looked back at Becca and Kelly, who looked confused, but didn’t say anything.   
“We’re going to have a meeting later today, with everyone on Allies team. We can have Kelly go and fill you in, Becca.” Gwen said. Becca laughed. “Oh, absolutely the fu-frick not. I’m tired of being in this hospital. I’ll just bring Eden,” Becca said. Gwen looked a little nervous and Grizz turned to Becca, “Okay, but come in through the back door. We don’t want anyone knowing that we’re having secret meet ups, okay?” Grizz said. Kelly nodded and Grizz looked around the room, “Okay? Okay. Meet at my house around 6,” Grizz said, before saying his goodbyes to Kelly and Becca, and leaving.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A lot of stuff happens. Team meeting, the guard stops by, and Grizz and Sam say goodbye.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sksksks I literally wrote this for two hours. Lots of fluff.

Grizz sat at the head of his table, grateful for his large family for once. Sitting around him was Gwen, Bean, Mickey, Becca, Kelly, Gordie, and Sam. When everyone had first arrived, Grizz was slightly saddened by the limited amount of people there. This was all he had. This was it. He had no real muscle, except for him, mostly everyone here was brains. Or just.. there. Grizz was used to the even amount, making their old group practically unbeatable. Able to counter any problem. But, looking over the table now, he knew that this group was superior. Gwen was able to talk to anybody, making her a very good political friend, able to convert anyone to their side. Bean was a genius, along with Gordie. Mickey had sharp instincts, on par with Grizz’s. Becca was, well, pregnant, and people would stop by to see her baby, allowing easy access to talk to people. Kelly was very good at adapting, and was able to think of a solution to any problem quickly. Sam.. Sam was their supporter. Able to. Ring up the spirits of the group. As everyone was talking amongst themselves, a smile grew on Grizz’s face. This group, no, team, was everything he wanted and more. So, he had to use this to the best he could. Grizz cleared his throat, and immediately, the room became much quieter, their attention focused on him. Unbeknownst to Grizz, who didn’t know his own role, everyone else did. Grizz was their leader. It didn’t matter if Allie came back to take charge, they would take direct orders from Grizz now. Yes, they trusted Allie, and she had stuck her neck out for them multiple times. But Grizz was one of them. Grizz went to work. Grizz risked going out into the wild, knowing the risk. Grizz didn’t force people to go with him, like Allie would’ve. He asked, he asked them for this spot, without even really asking for it. Even if he did, everyone in this room would immediately agree. Grizz didn’t really want the role he had, but he belonged there. This was his true destiny, to lead people, not with force, but to lead by earning their trust, support, and love. That’s just who he was. Not yet, but soon, Grizz would grow into his role, and fulfill it with a strong mind and heart.   
“Okay, so, I’ve told everyone the plan. You all know what you’re doing.” Grizz looked around the room for everyone to nod. “And you’re all okay with this right? I mean, you don’t have to do this. You would be risking your life if they learned about what we’re doing.” Grizz said. He wanted everyone to know what they were getting themselves into. Mickey nodded quickly. “Really think about it, if your friend support Harry and Lexie, then you would be betraying them, too.” Grizz said. Gwen rolled her eyes. “Hey, we know what we’re getting ourselves into. We know our roles, now play yours,” Gwen said. Grizz was shocked, but didn’t show it. Gwen was better with her words than Grizz originally thought. Grizz just smiled at her, but got serious again, “Well, we have a bigger problem at hands. I think we all know that Harry and Lexie couldn’t do this by themselves. Harry was to busy being depressed, sorry Kelly, but it’s true. And I think we can all tell the signs of drug addiction. Lexie is to righteous to think of this on her own, not without some pressuring, at least.” Grizz said. He paused for a bit. Looking around the room, to everyone’s eyes. Becca was signing furiously to Sam, and nodded at her thankfully. “Well, then we all know the only other person who could’ve thought of this. Definitely not the guard, though they do have a role to play in this.” Grizz wrinkled his nose at the thought of all of his old friends turning on Allie. God, they disgusted him now. Grizz sighed, and continued. “It was Campbell. It’s the only other option. He has the brains to do this. And he has the mind to not care.” Grizz said. Bean looked at him strange. “What does that mean?” She asked. Grizz realized that only 3 other people were in the room for this conversation. Grizz turned to Sam for permission, and Sam was already nodding. “Well.. to make a long story short, he’s a psychopath.” Grizz said. “Oh, fuck.” Mickey said. Grizz shrugged and nodded sympathetically. “Yea. So he wouldn’t care about how the town would go to shit, how the guards treat Allie and Will, I think we all know what they did to Dewey, I know I do.” Grizz said. He let silence stretch around the room, thinking once again about how common it was these days. “Also, I need to ask you guys something.” Grizz said, uncertainty starting to grow in his stomach. Obviously, the ‘guys’ he was really talking about was Sam, so he started to wring his hands. “So, um, I used to be part of the guard.. so I could pretty easily sneak back in, you know, be a mole.” Grizz said. Immediately, after Becca was done signing, Sam stood up and looked at Grizz in anger. “Are you fucking kidding me?” Sam said, signing furiously. “You know it’s the only way to learn about what their doing-“ Grizz said, signing what he knew. “You were just talking about how we would be risking our lives just talking about this, we don’t need our leader to be in the most danger, we need you!” Sam croaked out, his hands moving as fast as the speed of light. Sam was breathing in and out of his nose. “First of all, I am not the leader-“ Grizz, again started, but this made Gwen snort. “Don’t be a fucking idiot. You are, and we really can’t lose you. That’s why, when you go in there, I need you to be extra careful.” Gwen said, speaking slowly so Sam could read her lips. Sam threw his hands in the air. “Don’t encourage this! Are you guys being serious?!” Sam said. Gordie put his hand on Sam's shoulder. “Sam, I know you don’t like this, but it’s a good idea. We do need someone to be on the inside, and Grizz could easily slip in.” Gordie said, while signing. Sam glared at Gordie. He sighed and stormed out.   
After a couple of second of silence, Gwen spoke up, “You better go talk to your boyfriend.” Gwen said. Grizz pointed at her, already upset. “He is not my-“ When he saw the look on Gwen’s face, he gave up. Whatever, he trusted them. However, Grizz’s face still grew red and quickly followed Sam, chased out by multiple giggles. 

Grizz knocked on his own bedroom door, thrown into a flashback of when he did the same thing for Allie, knocking on her door, but then he had a cup of tea. Now, he just had himself and a worried boyfriend. Boyfriend. He liked that word. Grizz slowly opened the door to see Sam sitting on his desk, flipped through a picture book from when Grizz was little. Grizz realized that Sam hadn't heard him knock, and probably didn’t know he was there. Grizz put a soft touch on Sam's shoulder, Sam quickly looked up, his face softened when he saw Grizz. Grizz sighed, and sat down on is bed and Sam turned the chair around. “You can’t do it,” Sam said, his anger seemingly gone. In the back of his mind, Sam knew he was being irrational. Grizz had to do it. Grizz sighed and looked up at his ceiling. He looked back at Sam, and noticed that Sam's eyes were misty, filled with tears. “I have to. You know I do. I don’t necessarily like it either, the idea of acting like I agree with their choice makes me physically sick, actually,” Grizz said. Grizz was slightly shocked that he actually signed the majority of that sentence, his practice had payed off. Sam sighed and looked at the floor. “I don’t like it,” Sam signed, but didn’t say. Grizz scooted forward to his bed and lifted Sams chin up, and a tear rolled down his cheek. “I know what Campbell can do, how he can read people. He’s going to eventually know something is up,” Sam said. Grizz smiled at him, “Yea, he’s going to know when he’s on trial.” Grizz laughed. Sam pouted, “I’m being serious.” Sam said. Grizz sighed, “I know, but we can’t think of that. If we think of every possibility of what can go wrong, then we won’t do anything. Everything will fall apart.” Grizz said. Sam rested his weight on Grizz’s hand, and Grizz leaned forward to kiss Sam lightly. “I’ll be safe, I won’t do anything to suspicious.” Grizz said. They were silent for a bit, and Grizz kept looking into Sam's face for some clue about if he was going to agree. “Fine,” Sam sighed. “Thank you,” Grizz said, and kissed him lightly. Grizz stood up and Sam soon followed, and walked downstairs.   
Everyone was still there, talking amongst themselves. Grizz sat himself down, and soon all of the conversation stopped, “Okay, so, we’re all in agreement about what’s going to go down?” Grizz asked, and everyone’s nodded solemnly. “Okay, so we need to not see each other as much, we’ll have meetings once a week, talk about what’s going down. We’ll need to limit when we see each other, unless we were friends before or on the expedition together, that would explain why we’re talking. If we weren’t close friends before, then limit talking to these meetings.” Grizz said this, and looked at Sam. They both knew what that meant. They wouldn’t be able to see each other as much. “We’ll start tomorrow, alright?” Grizz said. “Okay, well, see you guys next week, same time and place,” Grizz said. Everyone slowly trickled out except for Gwen, Sam, Becca, and Kelly. Gwen sat down on the couch, as this is where she lived now. But Becca walked up to Grizz, “Can I talk to you? Alone?” Becca asked. Grizz flicked his eyes up to Sam, but he didn’t know what she had said. “Uhh. Yea.” Grizz said, and walked to his room again.   
Grizz sat down on his desk chair, and Becca stayed standing, holding Eden. Eden had been surprisingly quiet during the meeting. Becca was silent for a bit, and patted Edens back. “So, what did you need?” Grizz asked. “So um, you and Sam?” Becca said. Grizz swallowed. “Uh, yea, you know uh.. I’m totally cool with the whole.. Baby thing.” Grizz said. He was really uncomfortable right now. Becca sighed. “Okay, so I don’t think Sam would’ve told you this because he promised me he wouldn’t tell anyone.. But he’s not the father. I just want you two to be happy and I don’t want to get in the way of that-“ Becca started, and looked up to see Grizz smiling. Grizz wasn’t at all surprised, as Sam had just told him that earlier today, but he had to act like it, “Uhh, oh my god! No way! I have to go talk to him.. uhh. Right now.” Grizz said and quickly stood up. Grizz quickly pushes Becca out of his room.   
“Uh Sam! Come here-“ Grizz started, but then a knock hammered into his mind. “Who would be here at this time? None of the people from the team, they just left. Would the guard really-“ Grizz thought and then quietly whispered, “Shit! Uhh everyone go into my parents room, but Gwen.” Grizz said, pushing everyone in there. “Grizz, what is going on?” Kelly started. “Shh!” Grizz silenced her. “Stay quiet. Lock the door,” Grizz said. Grizz collected himself and opened the door. There stood Clarke, Jason, and Luke. “Heyy! What’s up, bro! We missed you!” Clarke said, storming in. Grizz raised his eyebrows and let them walk by. “Oh shit, bro,” Clarke said, seeing Gwen sitting on the couch. “Yo, y’all fucking or something?” Jason whispered, but it was pretty loud, and Gwen could hear. “Uhh..” Grizz started, but Gwen interrupted him, “Yes, yea we are. So if you guys could leave so we could continue..” Gwen said. Clarke turned around quickly, “Bro? What the fuck, man!” Clarke said. Grizz expected him to be mad, and raised his arms in defense, but Clarke hugged him, and that’s when Grizz could easily smell the liquor on him. “So you leave on this adventure and come back with a fuck buddy? Nice bro! Don’t really like how it’s my ex, bro, but it’s sick,” Clarke said. “Sorry, but we can’t leave though, we haven't seen you in like, 3 weeks.” Luke said. Grizz forced out a laugh. “Yea, sorry about that. Just wanted to rest up and let my mind come back to normal society before I started talking to everyone, you know?” Grizz said. “So, dude, how was it out there?” Jason asked, sitting down on the couch next to Gwen, who cringed and scooted over. Soon, all of the boys followed suit, but Grizz still stood. He let out a nervous laugh. “You know, dude, hated it. Nothing like being back here with you guys.” Grizz said, starting to go back into his straight guy personality. “That’s right!” Clarke said, grinning. “So how did you and little Gwenie-“ Clarke said, “Don’t call me that,” Gwen whispered, “Start to do the dirty, ay?” Clarke said. Grizz laughed again. “Don’t word it like that, but she just crawled into my tent once and we’ll, now she stays here so,” Grizz said, smirking. He glanced and Gwen, who was raising her eyebrows. Grizz eyes quickly flashed a pleading look and Gwen sighed. “Yea, Uhh.. he’s much better than you, Clarke.” Gwen said. “Ohhhh!” Jason said, punching Clarke in the arm. And Clarke laughed. He turned to Gwen and whispered, “Really, though?” Clarke said, and that made Grizz actually laugh, and Gwen nodded. Luke cleared his throat and looked at Jason and Clarke. “So, uh, what do you think of the whole Allie thing?” Luke said. “It’s fucked up,” Grizz said. He was being truthful, it was fucked up. But he knew he had to switch sides for the guard. “I mean, I trusted Allie, and she did that? It’s messed up.” Grizz said. Clarke nodded and gave Grizz an approving look. “That’s good, dude. I was worried you would still be on Allie’s side, since you weren’t here for everything, you know?” Jason said. “So uh, how do you guys know that Allie was going to cheat the election?” Grizz said. Luke cleared his throat again. “I overheard them talking about it when they didn’t know I was in the room. I had to do the right thing, you know?” Luke said. This made Grizz internally scoff. “The right thing? You’re lying to everyone in the town to appeal to Campbell.” But Grizz shook his head, “Damn, I can’t believe she would do that,” Grizz said. Grizz faked a yawn, hoping that it would inch them to leave. Gwen soon followed suit. “It’s kind of let, isn’t it?” Gwen said. And Grizz nodded, “I know right? I’ve been so tired since the trip..” Grizz trailed off. Like looked at him sympathetically, “Oh, sorry dude. I know I said we can’t leave but like.. you obviously need sleep. We can talk tomorrow.” Luke said and stood up. Clarke and Jason soon followed suit. “Hey, but we’ll be at the field tomorrow at like 2, all right?” Clarke said, pointing at Grizz. Grizz nodded, “Yea, yea. I’ll see you there,” Grizz said, hoping they would just leave. “Come on guys, we don’t want to keep them up,” Luke said, shoving them out, and closed the door behind him.   
Grizz sighed and melted into the couch. “How did you handle them before?” Gwen asked. Grizz snorted, “I could ask you the same thing.” Grizz asked and Gwen giggled. Grizz heard his parents bedroom door slowly open. Kelly slowly stepped out and peeked into the living room. “Yeah, their gone.” Grizz said. Becca barged out and went to the bathroom. “What happened to her?” Gwen asked, “Eden threw up on her,” Sam whispered, signing it to. “Why were they here?” Kelly asked, sitting on the couch. “Well, they used to be my best friends, and I haven’t seen them in a while.” Grizz said. Realization set in everyone’s mind. Grizz was risking a lot. If he can’t convince the Guard to join them eventually, then he’ll have lost his best friends since elementary school. Grizz even made it so he could rarely see Sam. Kelly cleared her throat. “So uh, we’re going to be on our way. Thank you, Grizz.” Kelly said. “Uh.. yea no problem.” Kelly went to get Becca from the bathroom, who walked out with a large stain on her shoulder. “We‘ll.. uh, wait outside.” Kelly said, and pulled Becca outside, and Gwen took that had her queue to leave the room.   
Grizz turned to Sam, who was looking at the floor. He gripped onto Sams jacket, and Sam looked up at Grizz. Grizz sighed and whispered, “I’ll see you soon,” Again, another flashback to just a couple weeks ago. Sam stood on his tippy toes and kisses Grizz. Grizz deepened the kiss, wrapping his arms around Sam as if his life depended on it. Unfortunately, Grizz pulled away. “I promise. I’ll come to see you,” Grizz said, and then hugged Sam tightly. When they let go of each other, Sam left, and before he closed the door, turned around and waved bye.   
Once the door was closed, Grizz held of his hand, with his thumb, pointer, and pinkie finger out. The sign for I love you.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some shit goes down.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry if this chapter feels rushed ! I had the idea for this chapter and really wanted to write about it. Also I didn’t know how to write the ending so sorry if it’s kinda weird.

It had been a couple of weeks since the beginning of the fall, as the team liked to call it. If you walked around the town now, you could tell the difference in the air. People walked around with a weapon visible at all times. People weren’t afraid to skip their jobs anymore, so the cafeteria was practically useless, trash sat out on the streets, and the stores were stripped bare. A small group of people tried to care for the town, supplying the cafeteria and cooking, for the few who still ate there. Grizz was the unannounced and anonymous leader of the group, using Kelly as his face. All Grizz could do was support the chaos, and actively participate. Once a week, every Sunday, the team would secretly meet at Grizz’s house and report, then hang out for a couple of hours, letting all of their stress out and letting themselves be free with the team. It’s how they kept their hopes up. This is how Grizz and Sam would keep their relationship healthy, and every Sunday, Sam would sleepover at Grizz’s, before resuming the act of not knowing each other.

The sunlight poured into Grizz’s room, waking up Sam. Because he was deaf, all of his senses were heightened, including his sight. So, he was a light sleeper when according to light. But Sam appreciated the thin curtains Grizz had. This let Sam have an hour or so of freedom to just look at Grizz, appreciate his face, and his hair that he loved to play with. This Monday was a little different.  
As Sam was combing through Grizz’s hair, Grizz’s phone started to ring, waking him up. Grizz groaned, then signed “Phone” to Sam and extended his hand out. Sam raised his eyebrows, but reached over and handed the phone to Grizz. He read the contact name, which read Clarke. “Heyy, Grizzie! We need to go to the church, we got a little plan,” Clarke said. This made Grizz shoot up in his bed. He signed “Important!” To Sam, “Can you tell me what this plan is? I’m kinda tired.” Grizz said, turning to Sam so he could read his lips. “Nah, bro, the bosses don’t want that.” Clarke said. “Okay, I’ll be right there.” He said. “What’s going on?” Sam signed. “I don’t know, but something’s going down.” Grizz said, before jumping out of bed and getting dressed. Once he was ready he grabbed his phone, then kissed Sam lightly. “Can you text the team and tell them to get ready. I don’t what for, just be ready.” Grizz said. Sam nodded quickly before grabbing his own phone.  
Grizz quickly started to walk to the church. It was a small town, and it didn’t take long. Once he was there, he collected himself outside. Grizz took a deep breath, and opened the doors. Everyone was already there, including Campbell. “Took you long enough,” Lexie said. “Okay, so what’s going on?” Grizz said, trying to suppress the stress in his voice. Campbell started smiling, “We wanted to give everyone a little show, you know. Show everyone what happens to traitors.” Campbell said, keeping his eyes on Grizz the whole time. “Fuck, fuck, fuck. He fucking knows.” Grizz thought. Then, Campbell turned to Luke, “Go grab them for me, okay?” Campbell said, the sweetness reminded him of poisoned candy. The kind he used to hear about on the news. Luke got up and walked to the side room and went inside for a bit.  
When Luke walked out, he was holding Allie and Will by the arms. They both had been beaten severely. Allies eye was so swollen it was practically closed. Her lip was scabbed and purple. Her T-shirt has spots of blood and her wrists were swollen and burned from the handcuffs on her wrists. Will had a large cut on his forehead, which was actively bleeding. His neck was swollen and red, as if he had been choked. His body was also covered in bruises and blood, and his wrists were wrapped in rope. All Grizz wanted to do was break them out, say something. Do anything. But he couldn’t, he felt Campbell’s eyes burning into his head. “What do you mean show everyone? You gonna parade them around town?” Grizz said. He could barely keep the anger and poison out of his voice, changing it to true curiosity. “Yea, of course! Everyone’s gotta know what happens when they betray the town!” Campbell said. Grizz noticed that throughout the whole thing, Lexie and Harry hasn’t said a word. Looking at them now, Lexie just seemed ashamed. Grizz knew what she was thinking, that this wasn’t her. Grizz almost scoffed at the thought. She did this, and now she has the audacity to be ashamed? At least own up to it. Then, his eyes swiveled to Harry, who kept glancing at Campbell. His hands were shaky, and his breath was uneven. Harry was craving his next fix, obviously. Grizz looked back at Campbell, who still had that creepy smirk on his face.  
“You know what? I think you should be the one to hold them, Grizz,” Campbell said. Everyone of the guard looked at Campbell, perplexed. They wanted to do it, of course. To prove to everyone that the guard was capable of doing this, that they one person was capable of this. Grizz almost straight out laughed, and saw Allie almost smile. It was too good to be true. The easiest time to talk to them and tell them that Grizz was saving them. “Really?” Grizz said, keeping his face straight. “Yea, I mean, everyone else here has already shown the town that their on the right side, except for you,” Campbell said. Shown the town? No, shown Campbell. This was an obvious test, to see if Grizz accepted the challenge, Grizz raised his eyebrows. “Of course, I’ll do it,” Grizz said. Campbell’s smile grew bigger, and nodded approvingly. “Well, let's do this!” Campbell said.

Campbell had sent out a mass text, telling everyone to meet in front of the church. He instructed Grizz to hold them both by the arms, and stand in the corner, away from the view of the doors. Once everyone was there, Harry and Lexie took the stage. As the room started to settle, Grizz leaned forward. “I’m working on it,” he whispered. Will let out a long sigh, and his body slumped. “We’re counting on you,” Allie said quietly. “I know,” Grizz whispered back, before straightening up again, and turning on his straight-guy mode again. “Welcome all, hello!” Lexie said. Grizz turned to look at them and noticed that Harry and stopped shaking, and Grizz couldn’t stop himself from rolling his eyes. “As you know, a couple of weeks ago Allie was arrested on the charges of trying to steal the election. We’re here to announce their punishment-“ Harry said, before he was interrupted. “What about a fucking trial?” A voice in the back yelled. Harry laughed nervously. “I mean, I.. We don’t think they needed one, it was clear to see that they were guilty.” Harry said. The crowd broke into conversation, “Fair my ass!” A voice yelled, “Give them a trial!” Another one yelled. Lexie lifted her hands to quiet the crowd. “We are open to the choice of a trial, though. We are confident in a jury knowing that they are guilty.” Lexie said. This settles the tension a little. “Where are they?” A voice pipes up, and Grizz recognizes it as Beans. Harry looks over at Grizz, and nods to bring them out. Once Grizz steps into the light, all talking ceases. Looking into the crowd, Grizz sees mixed reactions. Disgust, horror, pride, happiness. He can’t tell what most people thing. But what Grizz can tell is that the crowd is no longer comfortable. Grizz almost smiles again. They are really making his job much easier.  
“What… what did you do to them?” A voice in the front asks. This time, Clarke stands up. “We taught them a fuckin’ lesson,” he said, pride evident in his voice. It echoed through the silent church. What this building has seen, Grizz doubts it’s holy anymore.

** (Later that night)

Grizz had sent out a text to everyone on the team. He was quickly tapping his finger on the kitchen counter, and Gwen sat quietly on the couch. Neither had said a word since the town meeting. His back door opened and Mickey stepped in with Bean following. Soon, everyone else was in his house, sat on the couch. “Tea anyone?” Grizz asked, and everyone raised their hands. Soon, Grizz had nine cups of tea on the counter and was handing them out. It was silent for a bit, before Kelly sat herself upright. “I can’t just talk to people anymore. Allie and Will are in there getting beat and we’re just showing slight discomfort to our friends? I can’t… I can’t do this anymore. Not this way,” Kelly said. She looked at him, and was met with a sympathetic look. “Anyone else agree?” Grizz asked, looking around the room. Slowly, the majority raised their hands, the only people who didn’t were Sam, Gordie, and Gwen. “I mean, I’ll continue if you tell us we have to, but I feel like it’s not enough, you know?” Bean said, rubbing her arm slowly. “No, I get it. I just don’t really know what else to do,” Grizz admitted. It was silent for a bit, before Gwen cleared her throat. “Uh, I do.” She said. Everyone looked at her, and Becca tapped Sams shoulder and pointed towards Gwen. “Well, I mean we didn’t exactly have an election for council members, right?” Gwen said. Becca turned to her, “No, but how’s that going to help us?” Becca asked. Gwen groaned in annoyance. “I mean it’s obvious. We have an election,” Gwen said. 


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A check up on Allie.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I remembered that I promised some Hallie, and I wanted to make Allie this BAMF so here we are.

** Allies POV 

Allie sat with her back pressed up against the far wall of the wine cellar. Guarding her was Clarke, and they were both in an intense stare at each other. Allie leaned her head back against the wall, “Clarke, I remember when you guarding me made me feel safe. How the tables have turned.” Allie said, looking back at him, a glint in her eyes. Clarke didn’t say anything, just kept looking at her. “I want to see Harry,” Allie said. She had a new cut on her cheekbone, which she got after spitting in Campbell’s face, and Campbell likes to wear rings. Clarke let out a short laugh, and it made Allie’s gut twist. “How many times have you asked this? He’ll see you when he wants to see you,” Clark said, and Allie rolled her eyes. “You mean when Campbell allows him to,” She said. If it wasn’t someone as dumb as Clark, he would’ve seen Allie’s mind turning. The longer she was in this cell, the more she learned. Suddenly, the door opened and Luke stepped into the cellar. “It’s time to switch,” Luke said and Clark nodded, and started to walk up the stairs. Luke stood there until the door closed. Luke was the worst guard she had. All he did was face away from her and stare at his hands, and wouldn’t answer her questions. “How does it feel to betray everyone you know? Well, except for the Guard, I guess,” Allie said, reminding herself not to even slightly hint that Grizz working to save her. Luke’s face twisted and he pulled the chair to face away from the glass, “Does Helena know that you’re lying to her? Or does she just follow you blindly, because she believes in you?” Allie said, then snorted, “How do you think she’s going to react when she learns you lied to her? I think we both know that things won’t stay like this forever,” Allie said.   
If you had met Allie before the field trip, you would see a suppressed girl, who was stuck in the shadow of her sister. But you would also see a kind girl, who cared about her friends. Looking at her now, you would see a king cobra, coiled up to strike at the snake charmer handling her. Allie played along at the moment, but she loved to mess with Luke. Her hisses like the whispers of the dead. The Allie Pressman you saw before you is a girl, no, woman, ruined by the life she had, riddled with loss, grief, depression, anger, and murder. This Allie Pressman had killed someone, and it had changed her. If she had to do it again, she wouldn’t be afraid. Maybe a couple of weeks ago she wouldn’t have. But the situation before her made her realize, Allie would do anything to survive. Even it meant killing someone, but that would be a last choice, she was still a human. Sort of.   
Allie let out a chuckle. “I mean, I wouldn’t blame her if she just.. stopped loving you all together! I mean, imagine loving someone who betrayed their friends just for some more power? Not like you have any at the moment. I mean, Campbell is controlling all of you pretty easily. Why not betray him? I mean, you want the power right? You could just kill him, like you killed Dewey.” Allie ranted. This struck a nerve in Luke, and her turned around and slammed his hand into the glass, “Shut the fuck up!” He roared, but Allie didn’t back down. In fact, she laughed at him. “Oh god! Big, scary guard member! What are you going to do? Beat me? Oh wait, you already have! There’s not much farther you can go. Only way to make me shut up his let me go or kill me! Come on, add another name to the list!” Allie shouted, her eyes crazed. If they were going to make Allie’s role the villain, she was going to play it. And she was going to play it well. Luke turned around and grabbed the duck tape from the counter, and opened the door, “There’s other ways to shut you up,” Luke mumbled, before taping her mouth. Allie sat still as he did it. She didn’t particularly enjoy saying this to her former friend, and if she didn’t have to speak then it was fine with her. Allie glared at his back as he walked away, and sat back down in his chair.   
It felt like hours of silence later until there was a strange knock on the door and Luke stood up and left, leaving her alone, until Harry took a step into the first stair, closing the door behind him. He stood in front of the glass and sighed. Harry didn’t look bad, but Allie knew that he was faking it. She was skilled in looking calm and collected, but inside was turmoil. She was doing it right now. “What are you doing Allie?” Harry asked, and she raised her eyebrows before looking down at her mouth, pointing out the duck tape. Harry opened the door and walked up to her, kneeling in front of her. Harry slowly brought her hands toward her face, and when they skimmed the edge of the tape, she jolted her head back.   
Harry glared at her, and reached forward and pulled the duck tape off of her mouth. “What am I doing? Funny coming from you.” Allie spit out as soon as the duck tape came off.   
Harry just sat there in silence and Allie’s gaze softened. “What’s Campbell threatening you with?” Allie asked, her voice barely above a whisper. Harry snapped his eyes up to Allies and swallowed quickly. “You aren’t exactly making this better for yourself, you know.” Harry said, ignoring her question. Allie kept looking at him and sighed. “Neither are you,” Allie said. “What are you going to do when Campbell decides that he wants to be mayor, not with you and Lexie as his cover? What are you going to do when he just throws you aside like he’s done to everyone else?” Allie said. She had been trained in choosing the perfect words, as she was mayor for 5 months. Harry’s wall flickered for a bit, and she could tell that Harry had his owns doubts. Harry’s hand twitched and Allie’s eyesight flicked to it, and saw small marks on his hands, and then looked up to Harry. “Drugs won’t help with your depression.” Allie said. Harry’s wall was suddenly back up and he stood up. “You might want to reconsider how you’re acting.” Harry said, his voice hard now. Allie scoffed. “You should know that beating your prisoners isn’t exactly good for your image,” Allie said as Harry turned around. He stood up and closed the door. Just as Harry was about to go up the stairs, he stopped and but didn’t turn around. “I’m sorry, Allie, I really am.” He said and his voice cracked. Allie swallowed. She had blocked off her emotions for weeks now, and seeing Harry so vulnerable towards her, even if it was just a small crack in his voice, it brought Allie to tears.   
But soon Harry was up at out of the door, so Allie was forced to collect herself. Like walked back down and sat in the chair in silence.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Planning and thinking.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’ve realized the chapter summary getting shorter and shorter lmaooo. But if you’re this far in you should understand what happened before and not need much explanation so..

It was the 7th meeting the team had, 7 weeks since they had come back from the forest. 7 weeks of Grizz wishing he could just pick Sam up and run back. The forest was calm, and silent. It allowed Grizz to think about things. To think about everything. During his time in the wild, Grizz hadn’t fully appreciated it, all he wanted to do was go back home. He wasn’t exactly expecting what he got when he did come back. He wasn’t expecting to have the town in ruins. He wasn’t expecting Allie to be in jail. He definitely wasn’t expecting to be thrown into the position of rebellion leader. Sure, grizz was the leader of the expedition, but that was only for a couple of weeks. And where he was his strongest, in the forest.   
Kelly snapped in front of Grizz’s face, waking him up from deep thought. “Hello? Earth to Grizz?” Kelly said and Grizz rubbed his eyes. “Sorry.. uh, what were we talking about?” Grizz said, and Kelly looked at him strange. Grizz was more out of it then usual. He noticed Kelly staring at him but ignored her. “We were talking about how we’re going to convince Campbell to have an election for council members. You know.. like you suggested?” Bean said. Grizz rubbed his forehead. He has a headache, and they had ran out of Advil. “Sorry, Sorry,” Grizz said. “well, I was thinking that we suggest it in public. I mean, Campbell isn’t mayor in the towns eyes. So it’ll be Harry and Lexie who will have to agree on it. They’re more likely to say yes.” Gordie said. Grizz nodded, trying his best to follow along. “Okay, but who’s going to suggest it? I can’t exactly do it, Campbell doesn’t trust me yet. If I suggest that then he’ll decide that I’m on team Allie.” Grizz said. “What about me? I mean, I was dating Clark so they’ll at least pay attention to me,” Gwen said. Grizz immediately shook his head. “No, I mean no offense, but you don’t exactly have the best reputation in town. They would already be against it if you suggest it… no offense,” Grizz said, rubbing the back of his neck. Sam couldn’t make it this time due to baby problems, and Sam usually calmed him down during meetings so Grizz’s nerves were running wild. “It’s good though,” Grizz thought, “You’ll learn not to lean on Sam so much,” Gwen just sighed and nodded, “I mean I guess you’re right,” She said. “What about Gordie? I mean no one really has a negative impression of him, all he’s done is good for the town,” Kelly said. Grizz turned to a Gordie, his eyebrows raised. “Okay, I like it,” Grizz said. “Uh.. wait. Don’t i get a say in it? That same logic could be applied to you, Kelly, and you’re not as out as being on Allie’s side. I mean, I did practically everything with her. That might hurt Lexie or Harry’s pride too much,” Gordie said, and Grizz turned to Kelly. “Um, I don’t know-“ Kelly started and Grizz closed his hand in a fist and banged the table lightly, and she quickly stopped, “Why are you guys so intent on not doing it? Kelly, you are a logical decision. It’s a simple question at the next town meeting. You don’t have to start a fight about it. Just simply raise your hand and ask ‘Hey, why haven’t we had a council election yet?’ It’s not like your sticking your head in the guillotine.” Grizz said. He hadn’t realized How frustrated he was getting and had suddenly snapped. When he opened his eyes, everyone was looking at him in shock. Grizz wasn’t a particularly aggressive guy, and his rant hasn’t been that mean either, but it was the most anger Grizz has shown in the whole ordeal, at least around them. “Uh, Sorry. I just have a headache and there’s no more Advil..” Grizz said awkwardly. “It’s fine, Grizz. And he’s right, we have to do this and Kelly’s one of the few choices we have. So we better use it,” Gwen said. “Everyone agrees?” Grizz said, and the group nodded. “Alright, it’s settled then. Continue like normal until the next town hall or group meeting, Okay?” Everyone nodded and trickled out, and soon it was just Grizz and Gwen.  
As usual, Grizz grabbed two beers from the fridge, opened them both and sat on the couch next to Gwen. He handed one to her as his own beer touched his lips. Gwen took a drink before speaking, “Hey, you’re a bit… testy today.. Sam really helps you that much?” Gwen said. And Grizz nodded. He was practically out to the group, and him and Sam didn’t try to hide their relationship, but Gwen was the only one he openly talked about it to. A small smile grew on Gwen’s lips, and she took another drink. Grizz turned to her and looked at her strangely. “What are you smiling about?” He asked. Gwen let out a small laugh and nodded her head. “It’s nothing… you guys just put hope back in me that high school students really can have healthy relationships.” Gwen said. Grizz almost found the comment embarrassing, but just snorted in response. “I mean, we aren’t exactly high school students anymore, are we?” It was a cynical comment, really, and Gwen’s face turned sour. “No, I guess not,” She said. Grizz sighed and downed the rest of his beer. “I’m going to bed, see you later,” Grizz said and threw the empty bottle in the trash.   
Grizz layed in his bed staring at the ceiling. It was moments like this, with nothing but himself and silence that truly made him feel at peace. And, of course, being with Sam. It was as if they both radiated calm, allowing Grizz to just be himself. No one around to impress or act different for. He had realized himself growing more into the person he wanted to be in the past few weeks. Being around his new friends. Of course, the football team were his friends for years, and Grizz would never take those years away, but now he felt like he could never truly hang out with them anymore. Even if they did make it back home, they would all be tainted by the decisions here. Grizz, on multiple occasions, caught himself cursing this place. Of fucking course, just when Grizz was so close to escaping this town, going to college, coming out.. he had been trapped here. Trapped in the same, homophobic town with the same horrible kids.   
But the kids weren’t all horrible. And neither was the situation he was in. If he hadn’t come here, then Grizz wouldn’t have ever started to date Sam. Just thinking of his name brought a smile on Grizz’s face. He reached over to his phone and started to text Sam. “I miss you,” Grizz texted. He found himself missing Sam more and more, as the weeks of separation grew on and as they grew closer. All Grizz wanted to do was run away with Sam, never turn back. Be alone with the two things that brought him peace.   
All of this thinking that a Grizz did brought him to one conclusion, one that he already knew. He loved Sam.


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Town meeting ooooo!! Also some cute grizzam at the end

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for being so inactive on this one!! I wanted to write some pure grizzam stuff so I kinda forgot about this one. This chapter might not be the best but I wanted to give y’all some content! Love y’all.

It wasn’t long before the next town meeting wasn’t called. It wasn’t mandatory weekly anymore, but they were usually suddenly called, with nothing important to say. The meetings were just there to show the power Campbell had over the town, that he could summon everyone at the snap of a finger. Also to show how Allie was being treated, an example of what would happen to someone if they acted out. Every week, Allies face grew more purple and bloody, her body getting skinnier. Grizz knew first hand how terrible they were feeding her. But, Campbell would soon learn that he could not control everyone. Grizz had been unofficially assigned the Allie and Will handler, which he wasn’t really upset about.   
Everyone huddled in the church, talking amongst themselves. No one seemed particularly pleased with being there, they all just wanted to go home. Soon, Lexie stood and walked to the front of the platform. “Hello, everybody. Today we are going to talk about how we need to start going back to our job shifts-“ Lexie said, before being interrupted by everyone in the audience launching into conversation, yelling about how it was unfair. Allie let out a laugh, “Fucking idiot realized that how I had things is the only way all of this works,” She said. Grizz glances down at her. She still looked like shit, but the way she held her selves made Grizz realize that Allie was truly a monster, just good at covering it up. After every beating got up, she stood up taller. Growing into herself the more pain she experienced. Like it was some video game, Allie needed to fight the more difficult enemies to level up. Yes, she took it seriously, but this part? The whole.. being taken control of, abused… it was just a game. Soon enough, the people would riot. Or Grizz would take them down. It was a matter of patience, and Campbell wasn’t very patient. Lexie raised her hands, tying to calm the crowd, and they quieted after a long time. “I know, your upset, so am I. But it’s a temporary solution until we figure out how to feed everyone and keep our streets clean, without working ourselves to death.” Lexie said. Allie rolled her eyes. At Least Lexie was good with her words.   
Grizz had been looking down at the wall the whole time, but slid his eyes around the room now, looking for Kelly. Once they made eye contact, Kelly nodded before standing up. “What about the council?” She said. Her voice echoed around the room, and Lexie looked at her strangely before letting out a laugh. “What?” Lexie said. “The council. You know, the other election we were supposed to have?” Kelly said. The room was full with whispers, as people turned to their friends in realization. They were caught up in Harry and Lexie’s coup that they forgot about the council election. “Well, I think with two mayors now-“ Lexie said before Kelly interrupted her, “That’s an even amount, you guys could be split down the middle. And you’re going to cheat all of the people who signed up? Just say, sorry, I know you wanted to but we don’t want you to,” Kelly said. Grizz knew she was pushing it a little, but the crowd had a good reaction. The murmurs were louder now, with people shouting in agreement with Kelly.   
Lexie cleared her throat and adjusted her collar, “I’ll have to ask Harry,” This made Grizz scoff. She had to ask Campbell, “But I’m sure it will come around soon enough,” Lexie finished. Grizz almost smiled. Campbell was not going to be very happy, was he?  
Lexie looked back at Campbell and then turned back to everyone, “Alright, that’ll be all. Please return to your homes, and dinner will be served at 6 again.” Lexie said, and Grizz walked off with Allie and Will. Once they rounded the corner, Allie turned around, “Whos idea was that?” She said, a glint in her eye. “Uh.. Mine,” Grizz said. Allie looked him up and down, like she had underestimated him, “Good idea. You should run for council,” She said before turning around again. Grizz started to walk towards the room they alway waited in while Lexie, Harry, and Campbell talked. “What happened to the whole ‘Guard members cant run,’ thing? Plus, I don’t want to,” Grizz said. Allie sat down in the chair, and Will sat on the table. “You know it doesn’t matter if you care, or not. Plus, I agree you would be good at it,” Will said, nodding at him. He and Grizz weren’t exactly friends, but Will always seemed to be Allie’s stabilizer, much like Sam was to Grizz. So, Grizz respected him. Plus, if Will agreed then it was probably the right choice. “Thank you, but also Campbell would find it suspicious, you know that.” Grizz said. Allie shrugged, “Just say you wanted a bit of power, stop being the muscle, you know? Make the other guards run with you.” Allie said. Grizz tilted his head to the side, it was a good cover. But, before they could discuss it more, they heard footsteps echoing from the corridor. Will got off of the table and into the chair, as Grizz quickly tied their hands to the chairs.   
Campbell stormed in just as Grizz pulled up another chair and sat in it. Campbell did his signature creepy ass smile toward Grizz and took some steps toward him. It took every muscle in Grizz’s body not to stand up and make himself looks threatening towards Campbell. He stopped in front of Grizz’s chair. “Well, that was an interesting meeting, wasn’t it? What did you think of Kelly’s idea?” Campbell said. Grizz had no idea how to respond to that. If he agreed with her, he would look suspicious. If he disagreed, it would look like he was kissing Campbell’s ass, which made him look suspicious. Grizz sat up and cracked his fingers. “Well.. I.. I mean it would keep everyone off of their toes, but it seems a little ambitious.” Grizz said. Exactly in the middle, able to be taken either way. Campbell nodded, “Smart.. So let’s do it!” He said. Grizz wasn’t expecting it to be that easy. “Cool..” Grizz said like he totally wasn’t interested, but inside he was doing cart wheels. “I want you to run,” Campbell said, and Grizz choked on air.   
“What? Why do you want me to-?” Grizz said, “Well, I think you’ve got some bright ideas, and you might be the only guard with some brain cells,” Campbell said. Grizz was cautious, thinking of every possible thing that could go wrong from this. “I mean… I don’t know, man,” Grizz said. Campbell squinted at him. That’s when Grizz knew that Campbell just wanted him on the council so that Grizz was always in his peripheral. “Come on, dude! You don’t want any power or anything? Being able to tell everyone what they should do, what they shouldn’t..” Campbell said. Grizz had almost forgotten that Campbell was a slut for power. “I’m not that kind of guy.. but I’ll think about it,” Grizz said. Campbell slapped Grizz’s back, “That’s my man!” Campbell said before turning around and leaving. Just before he left the room, he turned around. “I’m counting on you,” Campbell said in a way that sent shivers down Grizz’s back. A nod seemed to satisfy Campbell, as he quickly turned back around and left the room. “Fuck,” Grizz thought before looking over at Allie, who was looking back at him with concern. “That doesn’t sound good,” She whispered, and Grizz shook his head. 

“... and then he said that he was counting on me,” Grizz signed. He was currently laying in his bed, with Sam laying on his chest. Grizz was signing to Sam, his hands above Sams head. Sam turned to face Grizz with raised eyebrows. “That doesn’t sound good,” Sam said, being unable to sign as he was propping himself up on his arms. “Right!?” Grizz said and combed his hands through his hair. The hair just fell right back into his face, and Grizz looked up at it in annoyance. “I need a haircut..” He murmured, before realizing. Grizz held his hair up above his face, “How are we gonna cut our hair?” He said to Sam, who just shrugged. “Pretty easy.. just.. cut,” Sam said, and Grizz rolled his eyes. “I’m being serious,” He signed. Grizz tried to sign more often to get practice in, but it was pretty difficult.   
Sam turned back over and sighed. “Let’s just… not worry about that right now, it’s been a pretty stressful day,” Sam signed. Grizz nodded, but as soon deep in his own thoughts. What if someone needed a dentist? What would they do? If someone got a cavity? Or if someone broke their arm? Got stabbed, for God’s sakes? Sam must’ve noticed that Grizz was being too quiet, as he looked up to see Grizz’s nose scrunched and laughed before signing, “What are you thinking about? You’re doing your thinking face,” Sam signed. Grizz looked at Sam weirdly. “I do not have a thinking face.” He signed. Sam laughed, “Yes you do! Your nose gets all scrunched up. In all seriousness, are you still thinking about the haircut thing?” Sam signed, and Grizz did nothing back. Sam sighed. “Don’t worry, I’ll cut your hair for you.” Sam said. Whenever Sam talked, it was pretty serious. Something he wanted you to hear, not just see.   
It wasn’t much, but it really did calm Grizz down. One problem solved out of many. “Thank you,” Grizz signed, and Sam patted Grizz’s chest as a ‘your welcome’. Grizz leaned down and kissed his head. A Thought popped in Grizz’s mind. He wanted to say something to him. Grizz tapped Sam’s head so that he would turn around.   
Grizz was suddenly nervous. Sure, Grizz had said it before, sure, but never when Sam was paying attention. “I… Love.. You,” Grizz said, while signing. Tears quickly sprung into Sam’s eyes and he swooped down for a kiss. “I love you, too,” Sam said.


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The intro debate for council! Who’s running? What happens? (Not much lmao)

“Welcome to the first debate for council. Each person running will have 30 seconds to state the reason they are running, and then once everyone has spoken, we will proceed to the questions,” Helena said. Currently Grizz, Elle, Kelly, Gwen and Luke sat on 3 different tables, with Grizz and Kelly together, and Kelly and Luke together. Elle sat alone. “To start us off, Luke has the first 30 seconds,” Helena said, and turned to Luke. She tried to suppress her pride, but she was glowing as Luke stood up. “You may start,” She said. Like cleared his throat, “So uh, I’m running because I believe that there should be someone.. multiple people from the guard running. We’ve been holding this place together since the very beginning. I believe we need that kind of stability on the council.” Luke said. “Times up,” Helena said. Luke looked up shocked, “Oh, uh.. okay,” Luke said and sat down. The crowd applauded. It wasn’t very loud, but it seemed to cheer Luke up.   
“Next up is Gwen,” Helena said. Gwen stood up, she carried herself with much more confidence since the trip back, like she had realized who she wanted to be. Grizz liked this Gwen. The Gwen that didn’t feel like she had to appeal to everyone. “You may start,” Helena said. Gwen clasped her hands together. “One thing that you may know about me, is that I’ve been on both expeditions. The only other person here to do that is Grizz, and we all know that I am definitely not Grizz.” Gwen said. A laugh rippled through the crowd, “But, that’s a lot to say for me. In high school, I know you remember me as the bitchy bimbo who dated the football star.. But those expeditions have changed me. The first one.. I think you all know what happened there. The second one.. It really affected me. I had the weight of the entire town on me and my fellow adventurers backs, I had to find land. I had to find water. That pressure, it changes you. For the better. If I could handle that responsibility, then I believe that I can do this town justice by being on the council. I-“ Gwen said. But Helena interrupted. “Your time is up,” She said. Helena was resting her head in her heads like it all bore her, but her eyes were sparkling. Helena found this interesting, no, she agreed with Gwen. Applause surrounded the church. It sounded like most did, “Next up is Kelly,” Helena said, and Kelly stood up and took the center of the platform. Kelly also held her head up high, but she always did. Kelly always had this air of.. confidence, righteousness. Grizz knew that he was right to suggest for her to run. “You may start,” Helena said and Kelly immediately started. “Hello everybody! I’m running because, well, truth be told, I want to,” Kelly said, and Helena pursed her lips. “But, I have the qualifications to run. I’m not just..” Kelly sighed, “I’m sure that you remember the whole Thanksgiving fiasco.” Kelly said, and a small laugh echoed around the church, “I cared for all of you, and everyone survived. And I did that while helping Becca give birth. That’s why I think I’m a perfect fit for the council. I’ve helped this town survive, and I think I’ve got a pretty good idea on how to multitask, so-“ Kelly said. Again, Helena interrupted, “The 30 seconds are up,” Helena said. Kelly nodded and turned around as the church erupted in applause. Kelly smiled before turning around to sit and keeping her face neutral.   
“Next up is Elle,” Helena said. Truth be told, Elle had been forced to run by Campbell, with him stating that their ‘a team’ and that they would run this town, together. Elle couldn’t say no, and forced a smile and agreed. Elle quickly stood and rubbed her sweaty palms on her dress. The only thing she wanted to do was run straight through those church doors and never leave, but she couldn’t. Luckily enough, Elle had a lot of practice faking confidence, “You may start,” Helena said. “Hello, everybody… Um, I may not have any of the experience these guys do, but I think I have the brain to make those tough decisions, ones we have to make for the town. Also, if we only give positions to those who have experience.. then the same people will always be in power, with no one else getting that experience, keeping the loop of people in power the same.. forever. Vote for me, and I’ll prove to you all that I can do more than they can, be better,” Elle said. “Your time is up.” Helena said, and another thunderous round of applause came from the audience. Grizz grimaced. He was last, and everyone else has made amazing speeches, except for maybe Luke, but what did Grizz have that Luke didn’t? Yes, he had leadership skills that he knew because he was running the fucking rebellion, but he couldn’t exactly say that. “Last but not least, Grizz, it’s your turn.” Helena said, and Grizz stood up. It was easy to see that he was freaking out as he kept wringing his head. He sniffled and rubbed his nose before standing up. As soon as he got to the front of the stage, he felt every eye in the room piercing into him. “You’ve done this before. But there was so much more pressure then. You actually had people counting on you. This is just a fucking speech. Calm down,” he thought. “You may start,” Helena said. Grizz sighed, his brain trying to calm him down hasn’t worked. But then, his eyes locked with Sam’s, who gave him a little nod, and he swallowed. “Uh.. so, um..” Grizz said. He couldn’t seem to get the words out, and it felt like he could hear the clock ticking on Helena’s desk, “I’ve been playing football since I was little,” Grizz said. “What??” He thought. He brought up football? “And soon I was pretty good. I got on the high school team, varsity my freshman year.” Grizz laughed out, and the crowd stayed silent. “I was content, I mean, as much as you could be in high school. And then.. we got sent here. I mean, I had so many expectations for life just to get sent to some black hole.. parallel universe.” Grizz said. That earned a small laugh. “But, all of you did, too. Elle was talking about how everyone else has experience, but what fucking expierence? Watching people die in front of you? Wondering through the fucking woods like some lost puppy, wondering, no, praying that you would just find one, tiny, spot of empty ground? We’re all just fucking high schoolers, just some of us have seen some fucked up shit.” Grizz said. Silence echoed through the gym, louder than any applause, any scream. “I just want us to get the fuck out of here, that’s it,” Grizz said. “Your time is up,” Helena said. Grizz nodded and sat back down. No one clapped, no one moved. Someone in the front row wiped their eyes,   
Grizz looked around, and noticed that a lot of people were.. crying. Grizz turned to Kelly, and she was looking at her hands. “Figured you just won,” Kelly whispered. Grizz looked up at the audience, “Now next up for the questions..” Helena said.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just wanted to write some monologue, could you tell?


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just angst. Just a lot of angst.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING!!! This chapter has mentions of the thought of suicide, slight violence (bruised knuckles), slight homophobia, use of the word f*g without a censor. This may be triggering for some.

“What the fuck was that?” Campbell said and pushed Grizz’s chest, and Grizz hit the wall behind him. He clenched his fists and stared blankety at Campbell, who was fuming. “What do you mean?” Grizz said, trying to keep his voice neutral. It wouldn’t help him to get on Campbell’s bad side. Campbell scoffed and sat down. “That fucking whiny ass shit. It’s not what I expected of you,” Campbell said and Grizz continued to stare at him. Campbell raised his eyebrows and Grizz’s silence. “Right now, we need someone who’s strong, not some bitch who’s practically crying on stage!” Campbell said, and Grizz almost gagged at the word ‘We’. There was no ‘We’. It was Campbell vs. Grizz. How could Campbell not see that? Maybe he did, and this was just an elaborate game for him. Maybe- “You better have fucking won with that shit.” Campbell said before grabbing his coat and opening the door. “And maybe you can actually make yourself useful,” And then the door slammed. Grizz stood there for a little. He was furious. Everything was making him pissed off. Grizz remembered back to the time when football season was at the same time as club hockey, and he was so stressed out from double practices that all he felt like doing was crying or punch something. So his parents got him a punching bag. Now Grizz was the leader for an entire fucking rebellion, part of the guard, and running for council. It was all too much.  
Grizz made his way to the back room, which held a punching bag and treadmill. Grizz never used the treadmill, but it was easier to say he wanted the punching bag for working out instead of saying he was a teenager who didn’t know how to handle emotions healthily. In the back of his mind, Grizz remembered the psychology lesson that talked about doing aggressive things to let out your anger actually made you more mad. Like, if you were super upset and destroyed a bunch of glass vases, you would leave more angry than when you entered. But Grizz didn’t give a fuck, and continued to storm the workout room. He was in a hurry to start, so he didn’t bother wrapping his hands or putting on any gloves, and just started to punch the bag. Grizz felt his right arm cut through the air, and hit the bag with such force, he felt it go up his arms. “Fuck!” He whispered under his breath. But Grizz kept punching. His left arm forced itself forward, and the sound of skin on leather broke through the air. The bag swung in place. Grizz did this over a couple of times before he got hot and took off his shirt and tied his hair up. He tired back to the punching bag. Another slap as his right arm hit the bag again 

“How long as he been in there?” Becca whispered to Kelly. Kelly just shook her head. “I don’t know. At least 2 hours. He was there when I got back.” Kelly sighed and put her coffee cup down on the table, and Becca reached forward to put her hand on Kelly’s arm. “You okay?” Becca asked and Kelly let out a long breath. “Yea, Yea. I guess,” Kelly said and turned to Becca, who had a worried look on her face. “You know that you can talk to me right?” Becca said, looking deep into Kelly’s eyes, worried about her. Kelly smiles a little and nodded. “Yea, I know. Thank you,” Kelly said. They stared at each other for a while, until Eden started to cry. Becca sighed and walked off to feed her. “Where’s Sam?” Kelly said and followed Becca. Becca picked up Eden and sat on the couch, throwing a blanket over her as she started to breastfeed. “He said he was picking up some more baby stuff. Should be back soon,” Becca said, and Kelly looked down at the door at the end of the hall, “Well, he can have fun with that,” Kelly said and sat down, just as Sam walked in.  
Sam was holding a couple of dolls, two binkies and three bottles. “Hello,” He said and nodded at Kelly and Becca. He sat the items on the counter and faced Becca. “I got some toys for her, and some more bottles so she has more food when you’re gone,” Sam said and signed, it simply being a reflex now. Becca nodded and smiled thankfully, focusing at the task at hand. Sam looked around and turned to Kelly, “Where’s Grizz?” 

Grizz was sweating a lot. He didn’t know how long he had been in that room, punching the bag continuously. A smug thought at the back of his mind said that at least he would be in shape now. He punched extra hard for that comment. “Fucking Campbell,” He muttered, and delivered another blow. “Fucking Harry,” Another punch. “Fucking Lexie,” The sound of the bag being punched sounded through the air again. “Fucking Allie. Leaving all of this fucking responsibility to me.” Grizz said. No one had ever really see him be pissed at them, aside from the time that Clarke had called Sam a fag in the hallway. Sam hadn’t heard it, but Grizz definitely did, and he immediately turned to his friend and started to yell at him. It took Luke to hold him back from punching Clark. Clark was genuinely surprised, and still didn’t know where the reaction came from. The memory alone made him punch the bag harder.  
Sam slowly opened the door to see a sad sight in front of him. Grizz was standing with his back to him, and saw the white punching bag spotted with blood. Grizz’s back was dripping with sweat. The mirror on the opposite end of the room allowed him to see the blood on his forehead from wiping the sweat away from his eyes. Grizz hadn't heard him yet, and was muttering under his breath. Sam saw Grizz back muscles pull back and deal another blow. The bag swung quickly, and Sam instinctively looked up to see if it was going to pull out from the ceiling, but it was screwed in tight. “Grizz,” Sam whispered, and Grizz whipped around and faced Sam, and Sam got a good look at him. His eyes were red like he was crying, and his knuckles were split open and bleeding. Black spots riddled them, and you could see the broken blood cells layered on his knuckles like polka dots. Grizz’s eyes were wild and crazed, like he was fighting for his life. Sam quickly wondered if that’s what they looked like in the forest, when they started to run out of food. Sam took a step forward and reached out to Grizz’s hand, and held it up to look at it. He winced at it. Sam looked up at Grizz with sad eyes. “Grizz..” He said quietly, and immediately Grizz’s eyes welled up with tears fell to the floor to sit down. “I’m just so tired of it,” Grizz signed, and Sam turned around to close the door. “Tired of what?” Sam signed. Grizz was momentarily happy that he had practiced ASL so religiously. It made it so much easier to talk to Sam. “Everything! I’m so fucking tired, just in general. I just want to lay down and cry, but I don’t even have time for fucking that!” Grizz signed, his hands jerky and quick in anger. Sam sat down next to him, and pulled Grizz’s head into his shoulder. Sam couldn’t hear it, but he knew that Grizz was sobbing from the wetness on his shirt and the jerks coming from Grizz’s shoulders.  
“I just want to lay down and die,” Grizz said, and Sam immediately picked up Grizz’s head and looked at him in the eyes, angrily looking at him. “Shut up. You can’t say that. You can’t, I.. I wouldn’t let you,” Sam whispered and Grizz looked at him guiltily. He wouldn’t, really, he wouldn’t try it at least. But all Grizz wanted to do was leave this place. Go back home, where is only worry was being outed before college. Not being shot in the streets if people found out about his little rebellion.  
“All of us are going through this. All of us are scared to be alone in the cafeteria. All of us are busy out of our minds with all of this. Kelly’s got a fucking hospital to run. Becca’s got a fucking baby to care for!” Sam said, and Grizz’s eyes faltered. Sam hadn't meant for it to be so harsh, but he didn’t know how else to say it. Sam sighed and closed his eyes. He used it to think, allowing himself to block of most of the entire world, but also to make sure that Grizz couldn’t reply in his defense. “I care about you. A lot. I’m in love with you, you can’t just.. just do that me. To everyone else here,” Sam said with his eyes closed and opened them to see Grizz crying, tears running down his face. Sam brushed a piece of hair from Grizz’s face. “I know that it gets to be too much. Everything piling on and there’s no escape..” Sam said. He really didn’t know where he was going with this, and continued to look into Grizz’s eyes. “But I’ll be your escape, okay? Whenever it’s just us two, even if we’re with other people, actually.. we’ll just have our little bubble, okay? One where we don’t give a shit, and just be.” Sam said.  
His brain hurt. He had never talked for this long before. Grizz nodded and wiped his eyes. “I love you,” Grizz said, and then ducked his head into Sams shirt. They sat there for a long time, just the two of them, until Sam looked down to see Grizz fidgeting with his hands. Sam reaches down to gently hold them and Grizz looked up at him, “It’s nothing. I’m fine,” Grizz tried to sign, letting himself out of Sams grip. “No you aren’t. Let’s go see Kelly,” Sam signed. “I’m not going to see Kelly,” Grizz signed, suddenly defensive. Truthfully, he was embarrassed. Grizz didn’t want Kelly to see him like this. Just some dumb white boy that punches out his anger. “Yes, you are. You don’t have a choice,” Sam said and stood up, his hands on his hips. Grizz sighed and stood up, grabbing his shirt. His knuckles scraped the fabric and he let it go in pain. Sam looked at him sadly, and grabbed the shirt for him, slipping it over his head. Grizz looked at the floor in embarrassment. He was supposed to be a leader. Now he couldn’t even put his shirt on without Sam helping him. Grizz supposed It was his internalized misogyny from his parents that made him feel like he had to do everything on his own. Grizz’s entire life, he’s been trying to better himself as a person, re-teach himself that it’s okay to ask for help. Okay to cry. Okay to be who he was. It rarely worked.  
Sam opened the door and walked out. Gwen and Mickey had arrived during Sam and Grizz’s talk, and Gwen stood up when they entered the room, “Hey Grizz- Yo..” Gwen said when she saw his bloody knuckles. “Kelly, I.. I kinda need your help,” Grizz said and fidgeted with his hands again. Kelly looked from Grizz, to Sam, to Grizz’s hands, to Becca. Everyone in the room shared the same look of ‘what the fuck’ and kelly cleared her throat. “Uh, Of course. Let me grab the first aid kit,” Kelly said and walked towards the kitchen. Mickey walked over to Grizz and grabbed his hand. Grizz instinctively pulled away before allowing Mickey to grab it again. Becca and Gwen walked up slowly. Becca looked straight at his hands, while Gwen looked at his face in worry. “You’re okay, right?” Gwen said and Becca turned to him, “Of course not, are you fucking blind?” Becca said and Grizz looked at the floor. He could barely handle everyone looking up to him, but he definitely couldn’t handle everyone looking at him like he was some kicked puppy. “That’s not what I’m talking about. They’ll heal. Are you okay, Grizz?” Gwen repeated and Grizz looked up at her as if to signal ‘later’. Gwen seemed to get the message.  
Kelly entered again holding the kit, and quickly pushed everyone away and lead him to the bathroom. Sam stood in the doorway as Kelly told Grizz to sit on the toilet and got a rag wet. It was silent except for the sound of running water, and the occasional sound of the everyone else whispering in the living room. Kelly worked silently, delicately holding his hand as she worked on cleaning his wounds. Grizz was a surprisingly perfect patient, he didn’t flinch or move at all unless Kelly accidentally pressed a little too hard. She set the rag down and brought his fists up to her face. “I don’t think they’ll need any stitches. I’ll just wrap them up and we’ll be done,” Kelly said as she reached toward the bandage. “Okay flex your hand for me?” Kelly said and wrapped the top part of his knuckles. “And now make your fingers a right angle..” Kelly said, and wrapped the bottom part. She quickly finished on both hands. She sat there for a bit as if she was going to say something, but decided against it, and left.  
Sam and Grizz sat in that bathroom for a couple of minutes in silence before Gwen rounded the corner. “Can I talk to you,” Gwen asked, and Sam jumped when she accidentally touched his side. “Oh! Sorry! Forgot about the whole.. deaf thing,” Gwen said and Grizz rubbed his temples. “Uhh, Yea?” He asked. “Is later now?” Gwen said quietly and Grizz shrugged while translating for Sam. “I guess.” He said and stood. Grizz walked towards the bedroom and leaned down to kiss Sam as he walked out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you guys like this chapter! This came out a lot darker than I thought. Again, worried that Sam is OOC. Please give feedback in the comments. Once this is all written I’ll go over the whole thing and do some editing.


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The election and a talk with Grizz and Gwen!

“Are you sure you’re fine?” Gwen said, who was sitting cross legged on the end of Grizz’s bed, and Grizz was leaning against his headboard with one leg stretched out. Grizz stared at his ceiling. He shouldn’t have thrown such a huge fit. All it had gotten him was worried friends and bloody knuckles. “Yea. Yea I’m fine,” Grizz said. He honestly just wanted all of this whining to be over with. Gwen leaned forward and put her hand on his foot, “Grizz..” She said, and he looked down into her brown eyes. “I’m fine! I just threw a fit.” Grizz said and she continued to look at him. Grizz wasn’t one to shrug away from his feelings, and openly spoke his mind. So Gwen was confused as to why he was now. But she knew he wasn’t going to budge, so she leaned back, “Okay.. so if you aren’t gonna talk about your problems, I’ll talk about mine,” Gwen said, and Grizz snorted and looked down at her, raising an eyebrow to signal for her to continue. “First of all, fuck Clark. Ever since we got back from our little adventure he’s been acting like the biggest dick ever. Like he’s some fucking god, controlling everyone in the town. God damn! For the first time, I understand Cassandra’s speech,” Gwen said and Grizz tilted his head. “What speech?” Grizz said and Gwen sighed. “Oh, she made this secret speech with a bunch of girls basically saying that men are the end of times. I can see why, now,” Gwen said scooted herself to also lean against Grizz’s headboard. “I just don’t understand how I could ever have dated him! He’s a fucking dickhead who doesn’t understand basic human kindness.” Gwen said and Grizz turned to her, “What did he do?” Grizz said. He knew that’s what Gwen wanted him to ask. “After the council election, he pulled me aside and basically said that I didn’t deserve it, and that he should’ve been the one to run, and that I’ll always be some dumb bitch bimbo..” Gwen said and Grizz turned to her quickly and sat up in shock. “What?” He said. He knew that Clark was a dick, but he never expected him to be brutal. Gwen nodded and looked at her hands. Grizz and Gwen got few chances to talk two on two, but that night she stayed in his tent they talked for hours. He knew how much she regretted being such a bitch in high school, that she felt like she would always have that stamp on her forehead of just being some dumb girl who dated the football star. “I’m sorry. He shouldn’t have said that, that’s.. a dick move,” Grizz said and pulled Gwen’s head on his shoulder.   
“You know, it’s kind of funny,” Gwen said and Grizz looked at the top of her head before straightening his head out again, “What is?” Grizz asked. “In high school, I only knew you through Clark. Thought you were the same as him, maybe a bit smarter.” Gwen said and Grizz laughed, “Thank god, I was about to be super offended that you thought I had the same amount of brain cells as him.” Gwen giggled a little. “Now, were both rebelling against him,” Gwen said, and Grizz soaked it in. They weren’t just fighting Campbell, the kid who they all thought was weird, the kid they never really knew. They were fighting their old best friends. Old classmates. Old boyfriends. It was the final push to let go of the past. And Grizz was leading it. “Fuck,” He whispered, “Fuck,” Gwen confirmed. 

Three claps surrounded the church, and everyone settled in silence. Lexie stood at the top of the steps, with Grizz, Kelly, Elle, Luke, and Gwen sitting on the benches in the front row. “Okay, hello everybody! This is the very first voting of New Ham! It’s pretty great right?” Lexie said, and started clapping. Slowly, everyone else joined in, unsure if they should. “Okay, so, we have 4 voting stations. We will hand you one piece of paper, which you will put the name of the top 3 candidates you would like to see on the council! You don’t have to put your own name, but it’s fine if you do. You will then place your paper in the box up stage, folding it so no one can see, Okay?” Lexie said and looked around the church to see if everyone got it. Grizz was, honestly, surprised. They were actually very prepared. “Okay, you may start!” Lexie said then gestured to the 4 stands. It was silent except for the shuffling of feet as people walked over and Grizz looked over all of the candidates. No matter who won, they would at least have 1 person from the rebellion on the council. That was enough. Luke seemed to be on unsteady footing in his stance with Campbell, so he might be useful for them. Elle.. Grizz was worried about Elle. She was stuck in a house, alone, with a psychopath. But he couldn’t exactly do anything without alerting Campbell, but it didn’t make him feel any better about it. Gwen and Kelly were trustworthy, and Grizz knew that they were probably one of the few people who actually deserved power in this town. Gwen might be a bit silly at times, but she had completely changed in the past month or so. Kelly was, well, Kelly. Responsible, trustworthy, smart.. Kelly was in-fucking-credible. They might have a chance in this. 

It was around 2 hours later of Grizz and the rest of them just sitting there until everyone was done and they had finished tallying the votes. “Alright, everyone. I know this had been long awaited,” Harry said, and a laugh echoed around the church. “You’re first council member, with 146 votes, is Elle!” Harry said, and applause surrounded the church, and Elle stood up and walked towards the table. Grizz rubbed his hands on his pants. Just one person. There’s still two left. “You’re second council member, with 152 votes, is Kelly!” Lexie said, and another round of applause bounced around the room, as Kelly stood to sit at the table. Grizz let out a breath. Okay. Kelly was on the council, they had a level headed person on there. Good. “And your third and final council member, with 201 votes is Grizz!” Harry said, and Grizz raised his eyebrows in shock. He didn’t really think he was going to make it or anything. Grizz stood and rubbed his hands on his pants and walked over to the table. Kelly nodded at him as he sat down. He didn’t really hear the applause. “These are your council members!” Lexie said, and Grizz looked over the crowd, and made eye contact with Sam, who was beaming.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry that this chapter was on the shorter side! Idk why but I felt like it was kind of rushed. :/ but I hope you enjoy!


	12. Not a chapter :/

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sorry guys! Just some info

Unfortunately this is not a new chapter! I had a new one written and honestly.. I just kind of hated it. It felted rushed and I know you guys wouldn’t have appreciated it, as it wasn’t at the standard of my usual writing. This means you’ll have to wait a bit longer for the new chapter, but it might be extra long or written as best as I can (can’t promise it though haha). Love you guys, and thanks for your patience!   
-Gio


	13. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mostly Helena’s POV and some confrontations

Helena leaned over the counter and grabbed the cup that Luke handed to her. She sat at the stool and took a sip of the cup. Helena looked over Luke who, honestly, looked like shit. He had dark circles, unruly hair, and didn’t try to shave anymore. Helena has tried several times to get him to shave, but he got defensive and angry. She didn’t understand it. Luke avoided eye contact and went to sit on the couch. Helena watched as he walked, turning to face him. “What do you think of the election?” Helena said and took a sip of her tea. Luke sighed and plopped himself on the couch before finally looking at Helena, “I don’t know. Interesting I guess.” Luke said, “Not like I’m super happy about it though,” he finished under his breath. Helena heard it, though. “Are you happy for Grizz, at least?” Helena said. Inside she was happy, Luke had been barely talking to her for the past couple of weeks, and this was one of the biggest conversations she’s had in a long time. Like shrugged. “Fucking Elle though?” Luke said, and Helena sighed and set her cup down. She stood and walked over to Luke and rubbed his back. “You tried your best,” Helena said, and Luke nodded. He hadn’t, he just wanted to run so he could get points from Campbell. He wasn’t exactly passionate about it. It was silent for a bit until Helena stood up. “Want to go on a walk with me?” She asked hopefully. Maybe it was one of his good days. “No, I’m fine,” Luke said before lying down. Helena sighed before grabbing a jacket from the hook. She turned around for one last look at Luke, but she knew he wasn’t going to look back. Helena sighed and stepped out of the door. 

Helena didn’t know where she was going. She had been walking for 10 minutes in a large circle around the town, doing nothing but thinking. Had Allie being a traitor really impacted Luke this hard? It had been almost a month, and he was still in a depressive state. Helena was jolted out of her brain by the sound of a car door slamming closed. She hadn’t realized how far she had walked, and was right in front of Grizz’s house. She saw Becca walking to his house with Eden in her arms. Why was Becca going to Grizz’s house? Helena didn’t know that they were friends. Becca knocked and the door was opened by Gwen. Gwen? Why was Gwen there? Sure, Gwen and Grizz had gone on the expedition together, but Helena doubted that Gwen would live there when she got back. And why would she invite Becca over? Something was going on. She crept over to the large window in front of the house and peered in. The whole time she kept thinking, “What am I doing? What am I doing?” Helena looked in the window to see Becca, Gwen, Kelly, Bean, Gordie, and Mickey sitting at the kitchen table. Looking in the window hasn’t cleared up anything, just made her more confused. This whole group didn’t seem like they were friends at all. Maybe Kelly and Gordie, but that was it. A throat cleared behind her and Helena turned around to see Grizz and Sam behind her. “Oh! Hi, I’m totally.. not looking through your window. At all,” Helena said. Wow, smooth, she thought. “Hi, Helena.” Sam said while smiling and waving his hand. Helena smiled back but didn’t answer. Grizz hadn't said anything but looked at her seriously. Helena was sure something big was going on, but didn’t know what.   
She sighed and stood up, “Okay, I give in. I’ll ask. What’s going on?” Helena said and lifted her hands in the air. Grizz’s nose twitched and then looked at the floor, “Why don’t you come inside, Helena,” he said. Helena raises her eyebrows at Grizz who had started to walk in. Sam followed at his side. Helena rubbed her head but following Grizz. She had never liked being confused. It’s what made it so hard to be a Christian when she was young. “If there was a God, why is there world hunger?” She had asked when she was 13. Her mother had sighed, but Helena pressed on, “If Jesus really did love humanity, why would he leave us be when the world was this bad?” A couple hundred questions later, her mother finally got to respond. “God doesn’t make decisions for us. He tries to guide us to the light, to good choices. But some people don’t open the windows to let that light it. They still choose to be bad, evil. That’s your job, Helena. To make the right choices, to follow God's words,” She said. It didn’t really click in Helena’s mind at the time, but she got it now. That’s why she followed Grizz inside.   
Grizz opened the door and Helena heard the sound of a chair moving against the floor, and footsteps approaching, “Finally! What were you even doing-“ Gwen said, but stopped when she rounded the corner and made eye contact with Helena, “What’s she doing here?” Gwen said and Helena could practically hear Grizz’s eye roll. “I think she should know,” Grizz said and suddenly Becca was there, too. Sam pressed forward and stood against the counter so that he didn’t have to be in the middle of everything. “Well I don’t!” Gwen said and leaned against the counter. “Okay, calm down, Gwen. But really Grizz? You couldn’t have talked to us first?” Becca said and kept her eyes on Helena. It’s not that she didn’t trust Helena, it’s just that.. well she didn't trust Helena. “Okay, can someone please explain what’s going on?” Helena asked, and Grizz turned around. “We will. Take a seat at the table,” Grizz said and gestured to the large table to her left. She nodded and sat down. Everyone sat down, but Gwen stood standing by the counter.   
It was silent until Kelly cleared her throat, “I guess since no one else will, I’ll explain… um.. Basically, Allie didn’t do it,” Kelly said and Helena burst out laughing before quickly swallowing it. “I’m sorry! I’m sorry! But what? Luke literally heard them talking about it!” Helena said, and Kelly looked at her hands, letting Helena mull it over, “You guys can’t be serious. You actually believe she didn’t do it? What are you going to do about it? Storm Harry’s house? No ones going to believe you, because where’s your proof? Also, can’t forget, it’s not true!” Helena said, getting more and more desperate. It had to be a lie. Luke heard them. “Helena.. Luke- Luke’s lying,” Gordie said and placed a hand on Helena’s arm, who quickly drew away. “Don’t- Don’t..” Helena said and took a deep breath. “Why would he lie? Lexie was going to win, why would she share the win with Harry?” Helena said and looked at Grizz. He was the only one she really trusted here. “It’s not Lexie or Harry,” Grizz said quietly. “It’s Campbell,”.   
Helena knew they were right, but that didn’t mean she had to like it. Helena closed her eyes. It completed the puzzle in her mind. Why Luke was acting weird, why Campbell was there during the arrest, why Lexie shared mayorship, why Harry and Lexie seemed more and more distressed as time went on. But that meant she had to accept the fact that Luke. Luke, the love of her life, was not on the good team. He was Campbell’s team. The team that beat Allie and Will. The team that’s letting the town fall into despair. “Helena, I know. I know, but it’s true,” Grizz said and leaned forward a bit about to reach forward to touch her arm, but decided against it. “You’re telling me.. that Luke. Luke, the nice boy on the football team who has to get me to kill a spider in our bathroom.. is beating Allie and Will right now. Luke betrayed Allie, when he was one of the few people she could trust,” She said and looked into Grizz’s eyes. He nodded slowly. Helena suddenly stood up, almost knocking her chair over, “Fuck off. Fuck you,” Helena said, suddenly glad she hadn’t taken her jacket off. She walked towards the door and suddenly Gwen was standing in front of her. “Gwen, move,” Helena said with tears brewing in her eyes. Gwen stayed still for a bit, until Grizz nodded his head, and she moved to the side allowing Helena to pass. She threw open the door and walked into the cold air. 

“I fucking told you you should’ve talked to us first,” Becca said after it was silent for a bit. “Her whole world just got flipped upside down. It’ll take a bit to adjust,” Grizz said quietly. He hoped it was true. “She could go straight home right now and tell Luke,” Kelly said looking straight at Grizz. “She won’t,” Grizz said with growing annoyance. Bean sighed and fidgeted with her hands, “Grizz, what is she does though, what do we do?” Bean said at the same level as Grizz. He knew that he had to accept that it was a possibility. Helena was in love Luke, he doubted that a little speech from them was going to change her mind about him. But Grizz wasn’t asking her to fall out of love with Luke. An ache in Grizz’s stomach occurred when he thought over what he should’ve said. He should’ve explained that Campbell probably didn’t give him a choice. He should’ve shown her how much it was hurting him to betray all of his friends. It wasn’t fun. So why would Grizz do it if he wasn’t 100 percent sure? “Nothing. We do nothing because she won’t,” Grizz said again, standing from his chair and walked to his room.   
Gwen rolled her eyes and turned to the rest of the group, “God he can be such a diva some times!” She said and Gordie laughed a little, “Funny coming from you,” he said. Gwen mocked an offended expression, “Wow, Gordie! I don’t deserve this,” She said and most everyone smiled. “Yea, you kinda do,” Kelly said and shrugged. “You know what, Kelly?” Gwen said while standing up, but a knock on the door broke through their cheery mood.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ooouuu Helena’s in the mix now. Sorry for the long wait! I started painting again and I’ve been super inspired to paint, so i haven’t been writing as much. Love you guys!!


End file.
